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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26879671">Warm Enough</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/OwlsWithFins/pseuds/OwlsWithFins'>OwlsWithFins</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Merlin (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>"Are you warm enough?", Bedtime Stories, Canon Compliant, Doting Merlin, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Holding Hands, Implied Gwen/Arthur (Merlin), Mentions of Tom and Balinor, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Sickfic, Tumblr Prompt, in which Gwen has a cold and Merlin takes care of her, sick gwen, soft</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 20:22:30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,153</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26879671</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/OwlsWithFins/pseuds/OwlsWithFins</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Merlin,” Gwen protested, but her twitching lips gave away her amusement. “This is more than enough, really.”</p><p>“Are you sure? I can get more.”</p><p>“Can you? These are all of the blankets in my house. I know you wouldn’t take Gaius’ blanket, and you’ve already given me yours. Unless you’re planning on raiding the castle or giving me the shirt off your back--”</p><p>“I’ll do it,” Merlin threatened, fingering the hem of his tunic. He was already plotting how to steal Arthur’s blankets and sheets without him noticing.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Gwen &amp; Merlin (Merlin)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>94</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Warm Enough</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hi friends! This fic was requested on Tumblr with the prompt "Are you warm enough?" for Merlin &amp; Gwen. I meant to upload it here yesterday but accidentally wrote 6k words for a different fic instead, so...whoops? Better late than never I suppose &lt;3</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Are you warm enough?” Merlin peered at Gwen through squinted eyes as if he could somehow judge her temperature through sight alone. Her face was drawn, curls astray, but she looked cozy bundled up in so many blankets. Still, there was something missing...</p><p>Merlin nodded when he figured it out, tugging off his jacket and wrapping it around her shoulders. “That’s better.”</p><p></p><div class="">
  <p>“Merlin,” she protested, but her twitching lips gave away her amusement. “This is more than enough, really.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Are you sure? I can get more.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Can you?” she asked, disbelieving. “These are all of the blankets in my house. I know you wouldn’t take Gaius’ blanket, and you’ve already given me yours. Unless you’re planning on raiding the castle or giving me the shirt off your back--”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“I’ll do it,” Merlin threatened, fingering the hem of his tunic. He was already plotting how to steal Arthur’s blankets and sheets without him noticing.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Gwen laughed, and it was a beautiful sound, even with her nose stuffy and throat sore. “I’m fine, Merlin. Don’t you have work to tend to?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Merlin perched on the chair at her bedside, lifting a cup of water to her lips. “You are my work today.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>It was true. Gaius had looked Gwen over late last night and proclaimed her illness to be the common cold. It was simple enough to treat--keep her warm, feed her broths, fetch her water--so he gave Merlin the responsibility, knowing Merlin would be fussing over her anyway. What he didn’t realize was that Merlin would be stressed out of his mind with worry that he was doing something wrong or that he wasn’t as good as Gaius would have been. Covering for Gaius was nerve-wracking any day, but this was <em>Gwen.</em> She deserved the best care in all of Camelot, nay, Albion. She certainly deserved better than a half-trained apprentice who had spent more time learning illegal magic than herbs.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Merlin set down the water after Gwen had taken a few sips. “I can get Gaius if you’d prefer,” he said for the hundredth time that morning. Needing something to do with his hands, he started fidgeting with the corner of a blanket that had slipped off of her lap.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Gwen wriggled until her arm was free from the cocoon and clasped Merlin’s fingers to make him stop. “You’re doing a wonderful job, Merlin. I was actually thinking of Arthur.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Arthur?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Yes?” Gwen said, looking like she was concerned for Merlin’s health as well. “You’re his manservant?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Merlin’s brows crinkled. “I know <em>that.</em> Do you really think he’d make me come into work while you’re in my care? He was so worried when he heard you were sick, I thought he was going to pick up an anatomy book himself.” </p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Gwen laughed, making a face. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.” </p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Merlin cracked a grin. Then, remembering his responsibilities, he took the corner of the blanket that had escaped from the Gwen bundle and wrapped it around her exposed hand. </p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“You’re silly,” she said, but she allowed her hand to be blanketed. </p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>By the time Merlin was satisfied, Gwen’s eyelids were drooping with sleepiness. “Terrible is what I am,” Merlin said, “keeping you awake with my nattering when you’re supposed to be resting.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Gwen glared at him, an expression that looked out of place on her peaked face. “You stop that, Merlin. You’re an excellent physician and the best friend I could ask for, and I’m very glad to have you here with me.” </p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Merlin’s protests died in his mouth at the affectionate reprimand, and he sheepishly slumped back in his chair.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Gwen nodded in approval. “You shouldn’t worry so much. It’s not good for you.” </p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>It was Merlin’s turn to glare. “If worrying is bad for me, it’s definitely not good for you right now.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Then you’ll just have to stop giving me anything to worry about,” Gwen said sweetly, still impossibly commanding while swaddled and sick. She would make a great queen one day.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Merlin huffed, trying to sit still to demonstrate how relaxed he could be. Soon, however, his knee began to bounce and his hands itched for something to do. He kept feeling like if he did just one more thing then Gwen would glow with health and Merlin wouldn’t have to fret that he was mucking everything up.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Gwen, sensing his poorly concealed distress, smiled and said, “Read to me?” She nodded her head toward a book on a nearby table.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Merlin sent a relieved smile her way and grabbed the book. It was a collection of children’s stories, the pages worn and stained with use. “Any requests?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Gwen was struggling against the warm embrace of sleep, so her voice was soft and mumbling as she said, “The one about the blacksmith’s daughter who becomes a knight.” </p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Merlin had never heard that story, so he was curious to read it himself. It was a fitting choice for Gwen, given her strength, loyalty, and unfailing goodness, and he wondered if she had ever wanted to be a knight. He couldn’t imagine Arthur would deny her, even with his sexist pigheadedness. Arthur knew a skilled fighter when he saw one, and it wasn’t like he had ever been good at denying Gwen anything.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>By the time Merlin found the right page, Gwen’s breath had evened out in sleep. There were no stories in the collection about a blacksmith’s daughter, so it had taken him a while to find the one she meant. He read the knight’s tale in a whisper, replacing the farmer’s daughter with the blacksmith’s, the way Tom must have done when he told it to Gwen. </p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Merlin glanced up at his friend from time to time, his anxieties easing with every breath she took. When he finished the story, he said a few words in the language of the Old Religion. They weren’t healing spells but prayers--the kind his own father had spoken while tending to Arthur. Merlin had never been one to pray before, but it felt right to call upon Balinor’s caregiving energy to pair with Gwen’s father’s. To acknowledge their shared loss in a way he couldn’t while Gwen was awake. </p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Merlin read the story two more times before his own eyelids began to droop. It seemed his nerves and lack of sleep the night before had finally caught up with him. Setting the book on the bed between them, he whispered one more prayer and then settled into his chair. It wasn’t the most comfortable resting spot, but he wanted to be nearby if Gwen needed anything. He dragged an eye open against the force of his exhaustion to get one final reassurance that Gwen was alright. Seeing that she looked to be well on the path toward recovery, he reached forward to clasp her blanketed hand and let his eye fall shut, a soft smile on his lips.</p>
</div>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you so much for reading! Comments are always appreciated :)</p><p>For more Merlin content or to <a href="https://gwen-cheers-me-up.tumblr.com/post/630906970496483328/ive-been-in-the-mood-to-write-some-bbc-merlin-gen">request a gen fic</a>, find me on Tumblr @gwen-cheers-me-up &lt;3</p></blockquote></div></div>
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